Rapist Met PC who told victim ‘you’ve met the devil’ jailed for life

A police officer has been jailed for life for a terrifying catalogue of rapes.

Cliff Mitchell, 24, told one of his victims ‘you’ve met the devil’ as he tied her up and threatened to stab her after she was kidnapped in September 2023.

He laughed at her while she cried, told her she was a ‘slut’, and taunted that nobody would believe her if she complained because he was a police officer.

Mitchell was found guilty of 10 counts of rape, three counts of rape of a child under 13, one count of kidnap and breach of a non-molestation order following a trial at Croydon Crown Court.

He was handed a life sentence at the same court today with a minimum term of 14 years.

It emerged during his trial that Mitchell was previously investigated for rape back in 2017 but no further action was taken.

Despite that, he was allowed to join the Metropolitan Police four years later, starting his officer training in August 2021.

Following his arrest in September last year, the case was reopened, and he was charged with six counts of raping a child – including three when she was under 13.

These six charges relate to a second victim and occurred between 2014 and 2017. The child was assaulted on at least 30 other occasions.

Now, all serving officers and staff identified as having been arrested for rape before joining are now being dealt with under Operation Onyx – commissioned following the appalling case of David Carrick, who raped and sexually assaulted 12 women over 17 years while serving as a Met officer.

Jurors heard how one of his victims was forced to get into his car and warned that if she tried to run away he would stab her, saying: ‘I don’t care about my life any more, you’ve met the devil.’

She only managed to escape by saying she had to get out of the vehicle because she felt sick.

The woman was later seen running through traffic by members of the public before a passer-by noticed what was going on and managed to get her in her vehicle.

In a 999 call played to the court, the distressed woman told the operator ‘he’s kidnapped me’.

In the sentencing hearing, one victim’s statement addressing Mitchell read: ‘You have shown no remorse for what you did to us.

‘You deserve to spend the rest of your life in a cell because you are a serious danger to every woman walking the streets.

‘You are the devil. You disgust me. I hope you suffer for the rest of your life.’

The court heard how the women suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder from their ordeals and struggles they now face in daily life.

The other victim, who said she lives in constant fear, said to Mitchell in court: ‘I’m holding you account for your actions, you took away my self-worth.

‘You are a pathetic excuse of a man. I’m letting myself heal from the trauma.’

Mitchell, of Wandsworth, south-west London, was a PC in the Met’s West Area Basic Command Unit.

He was serving in Hounslow when a number of the offences were committed. He was suspended from the force after the allegations came to light and was dismissed in December 2023.

The judge, Mrs Justice May, said: ‘Cliff Mitchell is clearly a deeply troubled young man… [his] serious offending appears to have arisen for desire for control.

‘The fact he was a police officer, albeit for a short time, will make imprisonment a harsher experience for him.’

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